


Killer Instinct: A 'The Wilds' Whodunnit

by superlxthor



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Completed, Drama, F/F, Murder Mystery, a classic whodunnit, don't worry guys shoni will be end game, get ready for some murder guys!, none of the girls die, place your bets ladies, shoni slowburn, warning!murder!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28989945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superlxthor/pseuds/superlxthor
Summary: After receiving a series of letters, the Unsinkable Eight are reunited three months after the island.A dinner party is what it seems to be at first; it's a harsh reality when they realise they weren't invited for a nice meal.Expect chaos! Expect suspicion! Expect romance and expect betrayal!No one's coming out with their hands clean.OrA classic cluedo- style murder mystery!
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 115
Kudos: 129





	1. No Body, No Crime

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy this one guys it should be fun!
> 
> also i'd just like to quickly dedicate this to shae (@politcryptid on tumblr) for always reading my shitty drafts and MOTIVATING my ass to finish. love u shae :)
> 
> there will be a few chapters of this so BUCKLE UP GUYS! put ur detective caps on :D

CHAPTER I: NO BODY, NO CRIME

_Oh mama, mama, mama_

_I just shot a man down_

_In central station_

_In front of a big ol' crowd_

_Oh, why? Oh, why?_

_Oh mama mama mama_

_I just shot a man down_

_In central station_

TONI

The car sputtered up the expansive driveway; headlights shining on the towering stone walls of the mansion. It held itself with a certain grandeur as it shone golden against the black night. Toni killed the radio and turned in her seat to face Martha, bringing one leg up to her chin. Martha looked at her with a nervous smile. She looked rather glamorous in her floral-print dress with her hoops and her fiercely drawn eyeliner. “You have your letter?” Toni asked, pulling a folded piece of paper out from her blazer pocket. She, too, was dressed in a fancy way, donning a slim fitting black suit with a white button up. Of course, in rugged Toni fashion, the top three buttons were undone. Martha leaned over and buttoned up the third one as she spoke. “Yep. It’s all very mysterious isn’t it?” She patted Toni on the shoulder. Toni’s eyes fell on the letter as she unravelled it. She read it for the fifth time that day. 

_Dear Ms Shalifoe,_

_You are invited to attend a dinner party this upcoming Friday at eight o’clock. Please come dressed in your finest attire. We look forward to meeting your acquaintance._

_187 Grimtorian Street, Klein Manor, LA_

She brought her glance away from the letter and directed it toward the mansion. 

“Would you look at the size of that thing?” Toni’s eyebrows drew together as she examined the garden through the windshield. Perfectly manicured hedges lined the edge of the cobblestone driveway and a decaying oak tree stood proudly to the right of the mansion atop of some freshly cut grass. Toni was reminded of a certain beautiful lychee tree. The memory shook her for a moment; it stirred in her head with a hazy sort of bliss. She shut her eyes, soaking in its warmth before Martha placed a hand softly atop of hers. 

“Hey, you alright?”

Toni kissed the memory goodbye with the wave of her hand. “I’m all good. Shall we go in?” With a nod from Martha, Toni pulled the keys from the ignition and climbed out the door. They strolled together toward the entrance of the manor, passing a kennel with two pugs inside it. Toni found herself playfully rolling her eyes as Martha knelt down to pat them. Toni stepped forward cautiously as she examined the detailed stone arches that outlined the elegant wooden door. She pushed her thumb against the doorbell and heard a series of chimes sound from within. Through the stained glass panes on the door, she watched a figure tread briskly towards her. The door opened with a slight creak and she was greeted by a man in a tuxedo. His hair was slicked back off his face and his eyes met hers intensely. 

“Uhh hi, we’re here for the dinner party thing,” Toni said, pulling out the letter from her pocket and holding it up like a ticket of admittance. Martha joined her and held out her own. He scanned the paper briefly before pulling the door open wider. 

“Please. Come in.” 

The pair took a hasty step in, flicking polite nods towards the man as they entered the hall. They were quickly overwhelmed by the scenery, it was a lot to take in. A grand gold-trimmed staircase went sweeping upwards to the left of them to rooms that were just out of sight. Their heels sent off echoey clicks as they stepped across the marble floor. Toni couldn’t seem to recall a time she’d ever been in a place so _expensive._ As they walked through the wide hallway, she observed a large painting hanging against the white wall, the subject being the two idiot canines she saw upon entering. A wooden chest sat below the painting, opposite a green leather armchair on the other side. The hallway soon opened up into a ballroom-ish foyer. Toni’s imagination cracked into gear at the sight of the grand, open room. She imagined couples dancing, dressed to the nines with lacy masks to cover their eyes. 

She imagined herself and Shelby. She imagined Shelby’s arm wrapped around her shoulder and her palm clasped tightly in Toni’s other hand. They would spin around the marble columns. And they would dip under the glistening crystals of the chandelier. And Shelby would be laughing along to one of Toni’s stupid jokes. 

It was sad to blink and have that reality gone. Toni knew she was only hurting herself when she imagined the blonde girl back in her life. She dipped her head solemnly as she stood with Martha, hands in her pockets, suddenly unable to match her friends’ curiosity. Martha turned, undoubtedly to make a comment on the elegance of the room they were in before noticing Toni’s hung head and hunched frame. Biting the side of her cheek she spoke softly. “Are you thinking about her again?” 

Toni brought her head up quickly and forced the sides of her mouth upwards. She started to shake her head quickly, eager to prove Martha wrong. Martha just pressed her mouth into a thin line. Her eyebrows were pinched as she stared sympathetically at her friend. “It’s okay Tones, I miss her too.” Toni felt uncomfortably sad at these words. She frowned at the floor, frowned at the melancholy moonlight that shone through the windows and down onto her worn out vans. The moonlight got lost though in the warm glow of the chandelier that lit up the entirety of the room, not an inch was shrouded in shadow. 

“Can I offer you some champagne?” 

“Oh technically we’re not old enough to dri—“

“Yes please.” Toni cut Martha off quickly before reaching out and lifting a sparkling glass from the silver platter the man from before was holding out so kindly. She raised her eyebrows at Martha who paused for a beat before shrugging and grabbing a glass for herself. “Thank you mister..?”

“Thom,” he replied abruptly before disappearing beyond the foyer and into what Toni could only assume to be the kitchen. She took a generous gulp from the glass, earning a raised eyebrow from Martha. She simply shrugged in response. Martha took it upon herself to start exploring the room a little more. Toni too, slowly rotated on her heel as she took in the feng shui of the room. The ceiling stretched up to a ridiculous height to a point where she could only just make out the detailed etchings on the skirting boards. A Victorian wallpaper with curly black and red patterns stretched up three quarters of the wall where it tapered off into elegant white stone arches. The arches met in the middle of the ceiling where a glass chandelier hung.

Thom was returning from the kitchen with another tray of drinks when Martha asked “So um are there other guests coming?”

Before he could answer, three brass chimes of the doorbell rang out around them. He passed by Toni and Martha, making a swift beeline to the door. The girls exchanged perplexed glances as they began to follow him. He set down the tray on the cabinet below the painting and reached for the door handle. As he pulled it open, Toni’s heart fell in her chest. 

There stood Fatin and Leah, with expectant smiles and clasped hands. Their faces dropped as they saw Martha and Toni. For a moment there was silence. And then pushing past Thom, Fatin started running down the hall towards the pair and crashed into Martha, wrapping her up in a fierce hug. Leah practically flew down the hall, with a smile as wide as the Los Angeles skyline and slammed into Toni, causing a bit of champagne to spill from her glass. Toni squeezed her arms around Leah’s tall frame, her mind buzzing as it tried to grapple with the reality of Leah being right there, in her arms. 

“What the fuck are you bitches doing here?” Fatin yelled out as she swapped with Leah, now wrapping her long arms around Toni’s small frame. She wore a black dress that fell just above the knee and had a lacy floral pattern that snaked up her arms and around her décolletage. “We could ask you the same thing,” Martha exclaimed, her face lit with exasperation. 

“We got these weird-ass letters,” Leah explained, pulling an all-too-familiar piece of paper out of her side bag. Like the rest of the girls she was dressed nicely, as per the invitation. She wore a dress that sparkled red and blue and dipped low down her chest into a V. 

“We got the same letters,” Toni replied, her heart still racing from the fact Fatin and Leah stood before her. Fatin had wrapped her hands around Toni’s free one, her eyes scrunching and her nose wrinkling as she peered nostalgically down at her. The four of them were awe-stricken as they basked in each other’s presence. These were the girls Toni loved the dearest. 

“How have you guys been?” Fatin asked, now holding one of Martha’s hands. 

“I mean not bad considering all the shit we went through,” Toni replied with a stubborn chuckle. Fatin dropped their hands and her stare was focused now. Leah had asked Martha a question and they seemed to be engaged in their own one-on-one conversation. 

“Have you talked to her?” Fatin asked with an insanely soft voice. Toni forced herself to maintain eye contact. 

“No.” The reply was short and simple. It was met with the dip of Fatin’s head. “I’m really sorry.”

Toni’s eyebrows drew together as she shrugged, trying to play it cool. Fatin opened her mouth to ask another question when three chimes entered their ears. The pair frowned at each other as they turned to look at the door. Thom pulled it open with regality to reveal Nora and Rachel standing in the landing. The same level of shock flushed the room as they registered who was standing before them. Nora, as always, was like a little sprite as she sort of jumped on the spot and yelled “Oh my god!”. Rachel on the other hand was momentarily still with shock before her face cracked into a disbelieving grin and laughter started to jut out from her chest. The sisters moved swiftly down the hall and into the foyer where they were enveloped in a passionate group hug. 

Toni couldn’t believe that her fingertips were falling on the backs of Rachel and Nora. What was this? Some kind of _reunion_?

But that would mean—

The glorious harmonies of the doorbell rang out once more. Toni stood frozen to the spot. Her vision of the room started to move in slow motion like the frames of a broken film reel. Her hands went numb as she was suddenly well aware of the quickness of her pulse. Her hand clasped tighter around her glass of champagne. 

Thom swung the door open and there she was. 

There she stood with her southern-girl smile stretched tightly across her face. There she stood with her wavy blonde hair falling over her shoulders. There she stood in slim black slacks and a white button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled halfway. The top few buttons were undone, just like Toni’s. Dot was beside her, although the excitement of her presence was strangled by Toni’s impression of a deer in headlights. Dot moved quickly and was soon enveloped by the group, just as Rachel and Nora had been. Shelby had started making her way down the corridor before stopping abruptly. Her eyes fell upon Toni. Her lower lash line was covered in neat eyeliner. Toni watched as a series of emotions flew past her face, her mouth fell open and shut. She turned to give the other girls a hug, making her rounds with all the members of the Unsinkable Eight. Dot came over and gave Toni a vigorous fist bump. Toni barely registered it, her eyes still following Shelby around the room. A loud, high pitched conversation erupted amongst the girls. Shelby had stepped away and was standing in front of Toni, her eyes soft and disbelieving as they fell on hers. Toni’s heart was beating like a hammer; death by uncertainty. That’s when Shelby’s lips pulled into a small smile and she opened her arms up. Toni stepped into her embrace, like it was the most easiest thing in the world. “Toni,” Shelby whispered into her hair. They stood wrapped in each other for a moment. Revelling in the collision of old worlds. The smaller girl eventually pulled away. She quickly wiped under her eyes and sniffled hastily. 

“Shelby,” was all she could muster in response. Before any more words could be exchanged, a dinner bell rang. 

The pair were just staring at each other when Leah came over and jumped on Shelby. Shelby was laughing as she tucked her arms around the brunette, swaying slightly as they embraced. Toni’s stomach was swirling with a storm of energy. Her face was beginning to prickle with a stinging heat. She turned away from the two girls and found Martha, grabbing her hand and leading them to where the dinner bell had rung. They walked forward out of the ballroom and into a dining room that was just as elegant as the rest of the house. Two chandeliers hung over a long black marble table. Gold etchings stretched valiantly along the edge of it, like a rich moat. There were small name tags positioned across from each seat. Toni’s eyes fell on Shelby’s and she kept moving until she found her own, across from Dot. She pulled a white padded chair out and briskly sat down, Martha sitting down to the left of her. 

“Are you okay?” Martha asked, seemingly concerned by Toni’s erratic movements. Toni was fidgeting with the sleeve of her blazer. She was sick of remaining calm around Martha. “I can’t believe she’s here.” She flinched from the pain of a certain memory. 

...

_“It’s just too hard, we live on opposite sides of the country.”_

_Shelby’s voice was breaking through the phone, along with Toni’s heart. “We- we’ll work it out. I’ll move to Texas.” The tears were travelling quickly down her flushed cheeks. She could feel Shelby shaking her head on the end of the line._

_“My dad. He- he’s threatening to send me to another conversion therapy.”_

_“Then move here! You’d never have to see him again.”_

_“Toni I can’t. Not right now at least.”_

_Silence fell over the line. Toni brought the phone away from her ear so Shelby wouldn’t hear her whimpers. She pushed it back to her cheek._

_“I just want you to be safe and happy,” she finally said, now unable to hide the waver in her low voice. A strangled sob fell from Shelby’s side as she choked through her next sentence._

_“And one day I will be.”_

...

Martha stared at Toni with sympathetic eyes. She blinked slowly as Toni continued. “It’s just a lot to process.”

… 

_Toni rolled over on her side and stared at the wall as hot tears snaked down her nose. She opened her music app and played a song. She fell asleep quietly humming along._

_You're the fire and the flood_

_And I'll always feel you in my blood_

_Everything is fine_

_When your hand’s resting next to mine_

_Next to mine_

_You're the fire and the flood_

_Since we met I feel a lightness in my step_

_You're miles away but I still feel you_

_Anywhere I go there you are (anywhere)_

_Anywhere I go there you are_

_Late at night when you can't fall asleep_

_I'll be lying right beside you counting sheep_

_Anywhere I go there you are (anywhere)_

_Anywhere I go there you are (anywhere)_

_There you are_

_There you are_

…

There she was. Sitting across from Toni, to the left of Dot with her elbows propped on the table, cupping her chin. She sent an earnest look in Toni’s direction which Toni reciprocated with a small smile. Another lonely night struck through her head. 

…

_Martha pulled the car into the Burger King parking lot. Toni weightlessly wound the window down, sticking her chin out into the chilly Minnesota air. It nipped her face, small frosty kisses of reassurance._

_“Would you turn the radio up Marty?”_

_Martha did so, then placed a gentle hand on Toni’s thigh. Toni’s eyes felt hot as warm tears trickled shyly out of them, tempering the chilly kiss of the wind. She closed her eyes to the music._

_Would you change your mind again?_

_You're still too good to be true_

_Am I getting played pretend_

_That you wouldn't need to_

_Turns out it's quite hard to take_

_Something you don't yet believe_

_Have you fallen by mistake?_

_I'd feel selfish if you don't leave_

_I think I wished on a mirage_

_Just let me down easy_

_This perfect picture's a collage_

_I got too lucky_

… 

Rachel pulled out a chair beside Toni, Nora sitting to the right of her. Fatin was doing some sort of dance on the way to her seat next to Dot, earning a very amused smile from the smaller girl. 

“Why do you think we’re here?” Fatin asked Dot who wore a black dress and round gold earrings. “Do you think it’s like the government or something hosting us a dinner as an apology for fucking us over with that plane crash? I mean this house is fancy enough to be owned by the Obamas.” 

Dot looked contemplative for a moment, but Toni couldn’t help but feel like she was just appeasing Fatin’s curiosity. And this is based purely on the way she held herself. She sat confidently. Knowingly. Did she know why they were here? She was about to ask when Thom started bringing out dishes. He placed a plate of chicken Kiev topped with a rosemary garnish in front of Toni. The steam rose up and entered her nostrils pleasantly, causing her to acknowledge how hungry she actually was. Once everyone’s plates were down they all just sort of sat staring at each other. The room smelled amazing, the salty aromas of bread crumbs and marination swirled around them. 

“Are we waiting on anyone else?” Rachel asked Thom who stood with linear posture in the archway of the ballroom. 

“Your host should be here any moment,” he replied, still as a soldier. 

“I thought you were our host?” Martha said with a certain confusion. As the words left her mouth, the blocky clicking of heels sounded from the ballroom. The clicking got closer until a woman of a tall build stood beside Thom, her head held high and her lips pulled into a tight smile. Silence fell over the group in the host’s presence. Her heels clicked again as she moved around to the head of the table, adjacent to Shelby and Martha. 

“Hello girls, I will be your host this evening,” she announced, lowering herself down into the white velvety chair. Toni took this opportunity to start eating. The rest of the girls silently followed, all that could be heard in the moment was the sound of forks plunging into chicken and knives scraping plates. 

“Thank god they gave me fake chicken,” Martha whispered to Toni who chuckled in response. The chicken in front of Martha didn’t look very fake. 

“You’re probably all wondering why you’re here,” the woman began. “Let me start off by introducing myself. I’m Gretchen Klein and I am a researcher.”

Some modest nods passed around the table at this. Toni wasn’t thinking too critically about why they were here. She initially had figured their host was a rich journalist, looking to interview the girls or something of that nature. The dialogue this Gretchen lady was spieling seemed to be going in that direction. 

“Now, we’ll skip the pleasantries, I’m about to tell you some information that may come off as shocking, but I encourage you to remain calm as I explain.”

A few knives were put down at these words. A sinister feeling snaked its way around Toni’s abdomen. A small frown landed on her face as her full attention was directed to the woman. Gretchen cleared her throat. 

“The plane crash each of you survived just over three months ago was not at all a plane crash.” 

The room was thick with confused silence. 

“It was a social experiment I conducted regarding the peaceful nature of female governance.” 

Toni’s chair screeched out from behind her as she stood, an animalistic expression creasing her entire face. 

Shelby spoke. “Uh that’s- that’s not true our plane crashed- we felt it go down.”

Leah looked insane. “I _knew_ it. I _knew_ something was _fucked.”_

Gretchen was looking at Toni. “Please, Toni take a seat.”

She couldn’t find it within herself to bend her knees, she remained straight as an arrow until Martha grabbed her hand and lowered her down. 

“You’re lying,” Martha said softly. 

“Now, this news while shocking will actually bring you a sense of understanding and clarity regarding the challenges you endured while on that island.”

Toni couldn’t quite believe her ears, and that seemed to be the case with most of the other girls, based on their expressions. 

“Challenges?!” Shelby yelled, “We almost died _every_ day.”

Rachel propped her severed hand on the table and stared at Gretchen, deadly. 

Gretchen closed her eyes for a minute, taking in a deep breath. “The reason I called you here today is because, with your consent, I’d like to publish the results of this study in my upcoming monograph; _Gynetopia in The Wilds._ It’s time to stick it to the patriarchy and finally turn the tables on the corrupt men who continue to run our nations on violence and bloodshed.”

The room was silent once again, you could practically hear the cogs turning in each of the girls’ minds. 

“No,” Leah deadpanned. Her eyes were watery as she stumbled around for the words to say. “You can’t in good conscience exploit the traumas of _eight unknowing girls_ for a quick buck. Not to mention our ninth girl _died._ ”

Gretchen removed a napkin from the table and placed it to her mouth calmly. 

“Not all of you were unknowing.”

Shelby held a hand to her mouth before mumbling “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Toni looked around the table to find Nora staring darkly at Gretchen. They were clearly in the midst of a silent conversation. Nora nodded slowly before Gretchen cleared her throat. 

“Nora was a confederate, as was Linh, who you knew as Jeanette.”

Toni buried her face in her hands, feeling her pulse beat rhythmically in her ears; the rage building in her legs, turning her limbs numb. Martha to the left of her was staring at the floral vase on the table with an open mouth, tears slowly swelling behind her eyes. 

What an evening of disbelief. 

She brought her eyes over to Leah who was wearing a familiar look of insanity, lip bit and eyes wild. Dot was frowning down at her hands which fidgeted with little certainty along a napkin. Fatin’s stare was alarmingly cold as it fell upon Gretchen. Toni was glad to see these girls were just as mad as she was. Rachel was still with shock beside her, staring at the spot where her hand used to be. She wouldn’t look at Nora who began to fiddle uncomfortably with her hair. 

Gretchen cleared her throat once again. “I legally require your consent to publish the study.”

“Consent wasn’t so important when you trapped us on an island for over a month,” Leah was becoming furious. 

“Guys don’t let it be all for nothing,” Nora piped up. “Sure, it was dangerous and immoral and I feel so bad I wanna rip my skin off, but it was extremely therapeutic for all of us. And some of us even got a relationship out of it,” Nora explained rather poorly, gesturing to Shelby and Toni. Shelby began to play with her earring as she dipped her head down, suddenly becoming very interested in her plate. Toni just stared coldly at Nora. Who would’ve thought that to be something she’d ever do. 

“To put it bluntly, if you don’t formally consent to the publication of this study, I will be forced to blackmail you all.”

Angry gasps flew around the table at this heinous announcement. The girls started yelling over the top of each other. 

“Blackmail?! Bitch you can try—“

“I’m gonna lawyer up.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”

“BLACKMAIL?!”

“The fuck?!”

“What could you possibly blackmail us with?”

Gretchen waited for silence. When the girls had stopped yelling and were now, as a whole, heaving angered breaths, she spoke. 

“I have files on each of you. Don’t think for a moment it would be challenging to dig through your secrets for the _darker_ secrets. I don’t think you girls would want me to do that. I don’t want to have to do that. Blackmail isn’t a resolution among reasonable people.”

The Unsinkable Eight were silent. 

“That’s it I’m leaving,” Leah announced, pulling on her side handbag and pushing out her chair. 

“I wonder how the authorities would feel about your romance with Jeff. And Ian; I wonder if he sleeps at night with his door locked.” Gretchen tilted her head deep in thought. Toni felt hot dread creep up her spine, she didn’t want Gretchen to expose anyone else. Leah stood blinking as if something was caught in her eye. Her hands were shaking, she struggled with comprehension. 

“The birth certificate. You—“

At that the lights went out. Hoots of surprise spilled around the room. The clinking of a glass could be heard. And then a calamitous knock, followed by a thud and the fall of cutlery. Leah rushed for a light switch on the wall. As she flicked it on, they were faced with a most unpleasant sight. 

A lifeless Gretchen lay on the table with blood snaking down her temple. 

_What a waste of a pretty face_

_What a waste, that face, that face, what a waste_

_What a waste of a pretty face_

_That face, what a waste, that face, that face_

_Will you want me when I'm old and dead?_


	2. Man Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's accusation time ladies!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading guys i should be updating quite regularly 
> 
> hope u enjoy :)

CHAPTER TWO: MAN DOWN

_They think she did it but they just can't prove it_

_They think she did it but they just can't prove it_

_She thinks I did it but she just can't prove it_

_No, no body, no crime_

_I wasn't letting up until the day he_

_No, no body, no crime_

_I wasn't letting up until the day he_

_No, no body, no crime_

_I wasn't letting up until the day he died_

NORA

A flurry of gasps and screams soared around the table as chairs went screeching across the marble floor. 

Nora thrust herself out of her seat and flew over to Gretchen, her fingers now dancing along her non-existent pulse. The room was drowning in a thick tension. Toni and Shelby were out of their seats hovering on either side of Nora. Leah was lingering unsuredly by the lightswitch, anxiously glancing between Nora and Gretchen, her bottom lip grinding aggressively between her teeth. Nora’s right hand felt around Gretchen’s neck pedantically; small whimpers jutted from her lips as she searched for a beating. She slowly dropped her hand and brought up her gaze. 

“Which one of you killed her?”

Martha clutched her necklace and was breathing heavily, throwing uncertain glances in every direction. 

“Killed her?!” Toni yelled. “How could any of us have—“

“Well someone did! She’s dead! She’s got blood dripping from her forehead!”

“This is some clue ass shit,” Fatin said, stepping cautiously behind Dot who was standing in front of her chair. A violent conflict splashed across Dot’s complexion. Her mouth was agape as her eyes fixed on the side of Gretchen’s head. Nora felt anger reverberating within her. How could any of them have done this? Gretchen was only asking them to sign off on a study they _already_ participated in. Nobody needed to die. Yet there Gretchen’s body lay, uncharacteristically powerless. She would have no more thoughts to contribute to the world. Her approach may have been wrong but Nora couldn’t help but truly resign herself to the belief that she was doing _good._ A devil’s advocate she was. 

“All of you had a motive,” she spoke minimalistically with a touch of mania. A snaking discomfort made its way to her extremities as she stood and accused her _family._ She couldn’t imagine any of them to be murders, but the proof was in the pudding. The truth was in their faces. 

“Come on, you don’t believe any of us actually did this,” Leah finally broke from her statue-stillness. Nora searched the space in front of her for the murder weapon. That will be the proof they needed. Her hands shook in disbelief. _Searching for a fucking murder weapon?_ It must have been blunt. Gretchen didn’t die from a cut, she died from trauma to the head. Leah was about to speak again when Thom entered the room from the kitchen, carrying a plate of champagne. Every girl turned to look at him, cringing deeply as his eyes laid on Gretchen. His eyebrows shot up as he let out a gasp, the plate of champagne went crashing to the floor. 

“Oh Jesus,” Toni muttered, bringing a hand up to caress her eyebrows. Nora stepped away from Gretchen as Thom came running over, grabbing her face and shaking it. 

“Gretch? Gretch? What the fuck?” he yelled. “She- she’s dead!” His mouth was quivering with shock as he stared at her. Nora felt an extra pang of sorrow, like a strong heel to the side. Thom wasn’t this waiter everyone here had believed him to be. He was Gretchen’s apprentice. Nora knew she was his boss, his muse, his inspiration. His friend. Gretchen had told her as much a day before the study. She had said “ _I know how to pick them, Nora_.” Her ancient words shattered in her ears. “ _You’ll be safe with Thom on the job._ ” She began to pull on her earlobe nervously as she looked to Thom who was now dragging his watery gaze around the group. 

“Which one of you did this?” He spat, with laudable conviction. Toni and Martha jumped back at his scathing accusation. 

“Why would any of us have done this?” Shelby questioned, rolling her sleeves further up her arms. 

“Oh come on you all had your reasons. I’m not some house servant you know, I was her research associate. I know more about you girls than you probably know about each other.” He was breathless as he spoke, seemingly overwhelmed with rage and grief. 

“And?” Rachel replied, also relatively breathless as she stood by the light switch with Leah. 

“So I know what you’re capable of.”

“And you think _murder_ is on that list?” Toni exclaimed, now pacing recklessly in the archway between the dining room and the ballroom.

“Yes and none of you are leaving until one of you _confess_ ,” at that he sped over to a digit panel and pressed a few buttons. A series of clicking noises could be heard around the house. 

“Did you just lock us in?” Dot exclaimed, her brow furrowed to the gods. 

Martha was jamming her hands through her hair, her posture straight as an arrow as she searched Thom’s face. 

“Okay Thom just sit down, have a drink, just breathe,” she said with an odd smoothness. Maybe they all needed to sit down and have a drink. Nora watched him on the verge of hyperventilation as he nodded and began to wring his hands. He took a seat in front of Martha and faced away from the girls as he grabbed the glass of champagne in front of Gretchen. He closed his eyes as he took a sip. His breathing started to slow as he drank more champagne. The girls looked on in concern. This concern grew as he began to choke. 

“Woah there, maybe don’t drink so fast,” Martha said, placing a hand on his shoulder. His coughing intensified as he brought his hands up to his throat, his face going red as he stood from the chair and turned around. 

“He’s choking!” Fatin yelled as he continued to gasp for air between coughs. At that, a foamy white substance sputtered from his mouth and he dropped to his knees. Toni who was standing right beside him backed up, mouth wide and hands on her head. Suddenly, the coughing ceased and he fell to the floor. A stream of white and red pooled from his mouth and onto the marble surface. 

His eyes were shut, his body lifeless.

Rachel, who was closest to him rushed to his side and felt his pulse, as Nora had done not moments ago with Gretchen. She stumbled back on her hands and knees away from him, eyes wide and mouth agape. Nora ran beside Toni who was ghastly looking down at his body. She saw the pool of liquid trailing from his mouth. Her heart momentarily stopped beating. There was an absence of breath in her lungs as she processed the image. He did not choke. 

“He was poisoned.”

More gasps circled the room at Nora’s statement. That made not one, but _two_ murders. Shelby staggered across the room toward a large pot plant in the corner which she proceeded to throw up in. Fatin ran over and held her wavy hair back as she continued to heave. If this were any other situation, Nora would probably be laughing at the sight. But no. Two dead bodies lay by the table. Which meant there also stood a murderer. 

“I’m calling the cops.” Her hand flew to her pocket as she pulled out her phone. She quickly typed in 911. As she brought it to her ear and opened her mouth to speak, the phone was firmly smacked out of her hand by Leah, who looked crazier than ever. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Nora yelled back, scrambling for her phone on the floor. Leah kicked it across the room with great force, sending it sliding into the middle of the ballroom. 

“No. No cops,” she said, holding her hands up, demanding all of the attention in the room. All the girls looked to Leah, even Shelby who wobbled back toward the dining table, wiping her mouth with the palm of her hand. She reached for a glass of champagne but before she could press it to her mouth, Fatin hit it away. “Bitch, that could be poisoned!”

“Everyone listen up,” Leah announced, her palms still in the air. “Nobody rings the cops until we figure out specifically who did this.” The room was silent, all eyes were on Leah until they weren’t. Accusatory stares started travelling around the room; pupils darting like cars on a highway. 

“Okay whoever did this, just fess up okay? I can’t go back to jail for a crime I didn’t even commit,” Toni chimed, stepping backwards from Thom’s body towards the kitchen. She was stressfully running her hands through knotted strands of hair, her eyes travelled cautiously around the room. 

“Are you just saying that? Because let’s be real if anyone here were most likely to kill someone it’d be you,” Rachel responded from her spot in the archway. Nora could see small beads of sweat on her forehead. Yes, she still refused to bring her eyes to her sister.

“Rachel don’t say that,” Shelby piped up from across the room. She sipped a glass of water to wash away the bad taste in her mouth. “Toni’s not a murderer.” Toni’s eyes were suddenly soft on Shelby’s. Shelby smiled to herself as she swirled the water around her cup. Nora wondered where it all went wrong for the two of them. They had once seemed to fit so perfectly together. She remembered once poking them each in the ribs as she teased “ _a brunette and a blonde with an unbreakable bond_.” Toni had glared at her threateningly as Shelby threw her head back and laughed. Now they stood ten feet apart on opposite sides of the dining room, casting timid glances at each other. 

“Hm, how would you know Shelby? That sounds an awful lot like something a murderer covering the _other_ murderers’ tracks would say.” It was Leah’s turn to contribute to the accusations. As always, she sounded insane, but Nora was listening intently to every word of every sentence. This was crazy. _This was crazy._ Here she sat on the marble floor of an LA mansion, listening to her friends accuse each other of murder. Although, in her mind their classification started to move further away from friends and closer to _suspects_. 

“Everyone here had a motive. She was threatening to blackmail us all. Not to mention the fact she put us through the ringer on a _deserted island_ ,” Dot spoke, pulling a packet of cigarettes from her mouth and placing one between her lips. 

“Hey, pass me one,” Toni said, moving next to Dot and lifting a cigarette from the packet. The pair now stood there, blowing grey smoke from their mouths, with quizzical brows as they stared in opposite directions, deep in thought. They looked like a modern day Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. 

“Okay, these accusations are getting us _absolutely_ nowhere,” Fatin said. “I don’t think any of you guys have it in you to _poison_ a man—“

“Or strike a woman down,” Dot added. 

“So I say we search the house,” Fatin concluded. “I’m not saying it’s _not_ any of you bitches. But there could for real be an actual murderer in the house and here we are jumping to conclusions about each other.”

“What motive would anyone else have to kill these two?” Rachel questioned. And then it hit Nora. 

“I remember Gretchen telling me once that she was fired from her old research facility, well, she was voted out. Maybe someone from her old team caught wind of the success of this experiment and murdered these two before they could publish it and become more successful?” Nora suggested. Not moments ago, she was _deathly_ suspicious of the seven girls that stood before her. But the moment Fatin suggested there might be someone else in the house, something felt _off._ Something felt _true_ about what Fatin was saying. 

Leah started shaking her hands as an idea entered her head. “Okay so what if those potential crazy, murdering ex-colleagues caught wind of what was happening here and _murdered_ them tonight to make _us_ look guilty?” 

The group collectively nodded at this deduction, their eyes were wide with shock and realisation. 

“Thom locked the doors,” Rachel said. 

“That means they’re still in the house,” Martha yelped and clung onto Leah. The room was thick with an ambient traction. They stood scared and confused about what to do. Nora clicked into gear. “I’ve got it guys. We search the house for them and on our search, look for alternative ways out of the house.”

“Uh yeah I don’t think there are any alternatives,” Leah said, wrenching herself out of Martha’s grip as she moved to examine the digital pad Thom had pressed to lock them in. 

“There’s like a blueprint of the house on this thing and I don’t think he left any door unlocked.”

The girls were silent once again as they turned this information over in their minds. 

“Then that means we’re definitely not alone in here,” Nora spoke with a doom-ridden tone. “If we find the murderers then we can ring the cops and hopefully they’ll have a way of breaking us out.”

“You seriously want us to _look_ for murderers?” Shelby yelled in exasperation. “Isn’t that...extremely dangerous...like...a recipe for disaster?” 

Nora considered this for a beat. “The quicker we find them, the quicker we get out of here. We each pair up and bring weapons with us for self-defence.” Nora then disappeared into the kitchen. Once the sounds of opening drawers and clanging utensils ceased, Nora returned with an array of appliances, including knives, two rolling pins, a cheese grater and a carving fork. 

“We’re all gonna die tonight,” Toni said, taking another drag from her cigarette. Dot promptly shrugged back at her, doing the same. They shared a fist bump. 

“I’ll go with Rachel, Fatin you go with Dot,” Nora began. 

“I’ll go with Leah,” Martha volunteered, her arms seemingly having found their way back around Leah’s arm. Leah simply rolled her eyes as she hummed in agreement. 

“Okay that leaves you and Shelby,” Nora said, turning to Toni. A burnt clump of ash fell from the end of her cigarette and onto the floor as she looked past Dot at the blonde girl who silently nodded, staring at the floor. 

“If anyone sees anything, just ring any of us or call out really loud,” Nora suggested. 

The group stood looking around the room. It was crazy how fast they went from hurling violent accusations at each other to being paired off, united in the face of danger. Nora didn’t know who to trust. That’s why she chose her sister as her partner. It was rather tragic though. She would like to say Rachel could trust her back but after those two months on that island, she really couldn’t. 

_And so there the eight girls stood, two-by-two, armed with kitchen utensils and their own fearlessness. Each pair began to wander to different parts of the house. What the Unsinkable Eight didn’t seem to notice was the bloody candlestick that sat underneath the table. And they didn’t seem to notice whose chair it was closest to._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, thanks for reading <3


	3. Fuck A Fake Smile

CHAPTER THREE: Fuck A Fake Smile

_If I'm hurt, I ain't gon' lie about it_

_Arms crossed with the attitude, lips pouted_

_If I'm mad, I ain't gon' lie about it_

_Neck roll with the attitude, yeah_

RACHEL

The group had split off into pairs, taking different parts of the mansion. Rachel and Nora walked silently together up the sweeping staircase by the foyer. Their heels clicked eerily on the polished marble steps. Rachel held onto the golden railing as she ascended, keeping her eyes up towards the top of the stairs. As they reached the top she felt along the wall for a lightswitch. Coming up empty, she resorted to using her phone's flashlight as she stepped cautiously into the dark and open hallway of the upstairs. Nora stepped up behind her, treading over a red Victorian runner on the floor. 

“Are you gonna talk to me?” Nora spoke out into the silence, causing Rachel to flinch. She rolled her eyes as she slowly edged forward in the hallway. She don an orange silky top with black flare out pants. Her hair was tied into a high bun, suspended above gold hoop earrings. 

“What could we possibly have to talk about?” 

Nora was silent as they stepped through the hallway. Her flashlight was casting light on the emerald coloured walls. “Rach, I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”

Rachel was soundless as she stepped through the hallway. She the light on a door to the left. The door was a mahogany sort of shade with wooden panels. She reached a cautious hand down and pushed it open. It creaked on its hinges as it moved to reveal the interior of the room. It was rather expansive for a bedroom, much larger than Rachel’s. She ducked her head in and shone the flashlight around the dark. She was fearful of the shadows; what they might hold, what she couldn’t see. She backed out of the room and shut the door. There was nothing in there...she hoped. On the other side of the corridor stood yet another door, painted the same reddish-brown as the other door. She cast a glance back to Nora who stood awkwardly behind her, her left hand clutching her elbow. Rachel moved toward the door and opened it. They were faced with yet another room, except this one was bigger. The entire wall on the far left was lined with towering bookshelves. The sight of the thing sparked no such excitement within her, however, she couldn’t say the same for Nora who rushed past her towards the stacks. Rachel watched as she ran her hand over the leather- bound spines, her eyes glazing over. She pulled a book out and read the title aloud. 

“ _Old Mistresses: Women, Art and Ideology._ ”

Rachel stepped toward her, examining the purple book cover. Depicted on the sleeve was a shaded feminine hand grasping a skinny paint brush. Rachel had very little interest in books. She’d once had a long conversation with Dot about how there’s no point in reading so long as there’s access to a TV. In all honesty, she was still recovering from having to read Virginia Woolf classics for English class. Nora placed the book back and continued to run her hand along the texts. She landed on one with a green spine. “ _Reclaiming Female Agency.”_ She spoke before pulling it back. There was an odd clicking sound and suddenly a small segment of the bookshelf creaked and swung open. Both girls gasped as they stared down a new narrow and dark corridor. 

“A secret passage?” Rachel questioned, edging closer. “Should we go in?” 

Nora nodded doubtfully as she shone her flashlight down the walkway. Rachel stepped after her sister. They tread down the passage for about three metres before it opened into a room. It was minimally furnished; nothing occupied the room other than a desk, a chair and a series of switched off monitors. Rachel sauntered over to the desk slowly, eyeing the monitors. 

“What do you think these are for?” 

Nora stood examining the screens. Her head was tilted in thought as she drew her lips together. 

“Research?”

Rachel shook her head and dipped her chin down, a smile of no amusement flashed across her face. “Pretty fucked up right?” She watched as Nora flushed with guilt, aimlessly studying the carpet. They stood on a Victorian rug like the one outside. 

“It’s not research though is it Nora?”

No reply came from Nora once again. 

“It’s exploitation.”

An uncomfortable silence now filled the small space as the pair basked in Rachel’s rage. Rachel pulled the chair out and dropped herself down into it, propping and elbow on the desk and holding her chin as she glared at her sister. She held her arm out, forcing the stump where her hand used to be in Nora’s line of sight. Nora fixed her eyes on it and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off swiftly. “A confederate. How does one become a confederate?”

“After Quinn’s death I was visiting the jail and a woman was sitting next to me. She was the mother of the murderer. It was Gretchen.” Nora was seemingly unsure of every word she spoke. Rachel stared blankly at her as she continued. “She offered me a spot in the experiment because I was a victim of male violence.”

“Fuckloads of women are victims of male violence, you don’t see them going behind their sister’s backs and agreeing to allowing _eight girls_ to be placed on an island with no idea of when they can go home!”

“Exactly! We’re fighting for all the women who remain silent, the women who are preyed on by the patriarchy so naturally. The experiment was a bad idea but Gretchen _and I_ had good intentions. We just wanted to create a world where young women thrive.” Nora was rather helpless at this point. Rachel could see no humanity in what they did and she sure as hell was gonna let Nora know. 

“That’s a new kind of fucked up Nor. You say ‘women are preyed upon by the patriarchy’. Well we were preyed on by a researcher. And you. Fuck _I_ was preyed upon by a fucking shark! There’s no excusing it. God I can’t even look at you right now.” Rachel dropped her head into her hand, massaging her eyebrows as she heaved breaths of annoyance. 

“I did it for us, Rach.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Nor.” 

“Rachel! Please! I’m sorry, I thought it would help. I wasn’t wrong. But, I wasn’t right.”

“Yeah you weren’t right at all.” Rachel’s voice was softer now. 

Nora stood there copping it but suddenly changed her tune. “You can’t say that when our _family_ is down there. You can’t say that when we came off that island with people more important to us than our own parents. We might have gone through hell and I’m sorry. But it takes looking at it from a different perspective to realise that it wasn’t just surviving. We were forging bonds worth living for. That’s why we survived. And we came out the other side with people we’d call just to hear their voices. We came out with girls we’d travel half the country for if it meant seeing their faces for just a day. I have a lot of regrets Rach, but they don’t outweigh meeting those girls.”

Rachel was silent. She brought her head up to meet Nora’s unexpectedly watery eyes. “Would you do it again?”

Nora furrowed her brows at the question; her gaze now lingered to the floor. She looked directly at her sister once more and down at her hand. A skinny tear snaked down her cheek. She exhaled. “No.”

“Let’s keep searching the house.”

Rachel pushed herself out of the chair and started walking towards the passageway. Nora stopped her, grabbing hold of her stump. She pulled her towards herself and crashed their bodies together, wrapping her arms around the muscular girl. Rachel was limp in her arms for a moment, unreciprocating. And then, by some sort of happenstance, or some sort of miracle, she wrapped her arms around Nora and squeezed. And they stood there like that for a few soundless moments, two ships in the same harbour. When they parted, there was no anger in Rachel’s eyes. If you could believe it, there was a small smile, which persisted all the way out of the room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading guys i know this one was kinda short but i didn't want to drag out their interaction.  
> get ready for the shoni chapter!


	4. The Leanover

CHAPTER FOUR: The Leanover

_You're a cowboy like me_

_Perched in the dark_

_Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear_

_Like it could be love_

_I could be the way forward_

_Only if they pay for it_

SHELBY

By some sort of odd universal alignment, Shelby had found herself by Toni Shalifoe’s side tonight. The pair were currently situated in the hall above the dining room. Toni stood to the left of Shelby. The taller girl noticed how she sort of nervously wrung her hands around a wooden rolling pin as she stared down the dark hallway. Just moments ago they had awkwardly trudged up the fancy steps of the ballroom in a single file line. A smile of amusement played on Shelby’s lips. 

“You seriously picked a rolling pin as your weapon?”

She was met with Toni’s almost luminescent brown eyes which fell down to the object in Shelby’s own hands. A snort sounded from her nose at the sight of it. 

“ _You_ seriously picked a cheese grater?”

At that Shelby looked down at the utensil in her hand. Her mouth dropped open to explain and she tilted her head, searching for a justification. After a moment of examining the object she brought her gaze back up and uttered “it seemed functional.”

Toni was amusedly staring at Shelby which stirred some warmth in her chest. It was the same look she’d given her at the airport that one time when Shelby’s bag tipped over as she pulled it behind her over the carpeted floor of the departures. Toni had laughed and immediately lunged to push the bag upright. Those were the days they’d travel interstate to see each other. When they’d go stargazing in the back of Toni’s pick up truck, nuzzled into one another, wrapped in blankets and each other’s arms. If Shelby was being honest, she hadn’t felt that type of warmth in a long time; apart from the hot flushes provided by too many sips of vodka. Her stomach was still hurting from all the alcohol. The dark period was a wet one. She wasn’t entirely sure she was free from it yet. 

She cleared her throat and brought her gaze up to meet Toni’s. “Uhh well should we get searching?” Her southern drawl was clear as ever. 

“Yeah that’s probably a good idea.”

They began walking down a dark corridor, Toni put the flashlight on her phone and led the way. Shelby was following close behind as they wandered towards an open archway on the left. The arch was skirted with an elegant golden design that danced all the way around, giving it an 1800s sort of look. 

“Should we look in here?” Toni asked softly, gesturing towards the room. With a nod from Shelby she stepped closer.

“Okay wait but what if like there _is_ a murderer in there?” 

Toni rotated to face Shelby completely and looked to be deep in thought for a moment. Her eyes lit up before saying “I’m sure you’ll protect us with that cheese grater.”

Shelby chuckled and pushed Toni lightly on the shoulder. “I’m serious though like…” Shelby gestured around aimlessly. Toni simply clapped her rolling pin against her palm and wiggled her eyebrows. Shelby smiled a tiny grin and nodded. She walked behind her as they stepped into the room. She fought the urge to hold her hand. They were immediately met with several rows of red cushioned seats. Ahead of them stood a large projector screen which covered the majority of the far wall. The rows of chairs were separated in the middle by a carpeted corridor. 

“What is this like some sort of cinema?” Toni spoke. 

“Jeez imagine girls night at this house.”

They ventured deeper into the theatre, stepping closer to the screen as Toni shone her light down the rows of seats. 

“I think it’s safe to say there’s no murderer in here,” she said somewhat mockingly. 

“You know, you seem pretty relaxed considering two people just died down there,” Shelby said leaning against one of the chairs in the second row on the right. Toni brought her eyes up to examine Shelby’s face. A dark sort of look settled across her features now. 

“I don’t really think I need to be mourning the death of two psychos who trapped us on an island.”

Shelby opened her mouth to speak but found she had nothing to say. Perhaps Toni was right. 

“Mkay but like… someone _killed_ them,” Shelby spoke again. “That’s pretty insane right?”

Toni straightened as she contemplated Shelby’s words. 

“You don’t think it was any of the girls do you?” Toni asked. 

Shelby was silent as she stared at Toni. “Well I don’t know. I hope not.”

“They’d have every reason to in all honesty,” Toni spoke, squeezing past Shelby to sit down in the seat beside her. 

“What do you mean? There’s never a good _reason_ to murder someone.”

Toni shot her head sideways toward Shelby who now sat beside her. “Those people treated us like _zoo animals_. We could’ve died out there, heck Jeanette- or Lihn _did_ die. That makes them murderers, not any of us.”

Shelby was soundlessly examining Toni’s face, her lips slightly parted as she tilted her head. “So you _do_ think it was one of them.” Toni didn’t reply, instead she just stared straight ahead at the blank screen. “And that’s why you’re not scared of there being someone up here.”

Toni looked down at her hands which were fiddling along the knob of the rolling pin. “Look I don’t know what’s going on okay? But the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Whoever did this is not gonna hurt us.”

Shelby stared straight ahead, soaking in Toni’s words. Honestly, the well-missed husk of her voice made Shelby wish she’d never stop talking. The last time she heard it was that one phone call two months ago. Her voice was wavier then. More soft. More broken. Her chest tightened uncomfortably remembering that moment, a painful regret started fluttering through her shoulders and wrists and hands. She cringed as she opened her mouth to speak. 

“I missed you Toni.”

Toni glanced at her and a quick shock flashed across her face before she composed herself. She twisted the ring on her right hand and then she spoke. “I still miss you.”

Shelby didn’t know what to say to that. She was left irrevocably speechless. She was sure someone as admirable as Toni would have moved on quickly. 

“I never got sent to conversion therapy after I called you,” Shelby found herself saying. Toni was beautiful as she attentively listened to every word. She waited for Shelby to continue. 

“I uh, I told my mom about everything that was going on. About my...terror. She was extremely surprising in her response.” Shelby was nodding along to her own words. 

“What did she say?” Toni asked, her hand was close to Shelby’s but there was no contact. 

“It’s not what she _said_. It’s what she did.” Shelby was smiling to herself as she stared down at her hands. She looked into Toni’s eyes once more. “She kicked my dad out of the house.”

Toni’s smile grew upon seeing Shelby’s grin. She let out a victorious sort of laugh before saying “that’s great Shelby.”

“Yeah,” came Shelby’s reply. “So it’s just been us at home and my mom’s coming around to the whole gay thing. I’m really grateful for her. It was rough at first you know? I turned to alcohol almost everyday. But it’s good now. I’m better. I can finally breathe in my own house.” 

Toni was smiling as she listened and then her smile disappeared. Shelby was in the process of rethinking what she said when Toni suddenly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her. Shelby felt a few things all at once; confusion and shock. And then love. She returned the hug and took the opportunity to nuzzle her nose into the side of Toni’s neck, breathing in what she _thought_ she recognised as Taylor Swift perfume. Her hair was soft as always and she longed for the time she could aimlessly run her hands through it, for no reason at all. She smiled as she pulled back. 

“I’m really happy for you.”

“Well you said it best Tones, you wanted me to be happy and safe. And I am,” Shelby said, using the nostalgic nickname. “If God brought you to it, God will bring you through it,” Toni replied with a wink. Shelby giggled, hitting the other girl playfully. 

“You know… I feel happiest and safest when I’m with you,” Toni dared to utter, looking nervously into the other girls’ eyes. Shelby felt a rush of heat strike her cheeks and she looked down at her hands. 

“Toni—“

“It’s okay Shelby. I don’t even know why I said that, it was dumb.” Toni now dropped her eyes to her hands. 

“Things are just… uncertain right now. I wouldn’t want to lead you on or—“

Before any more words could be exchanged a sudden gunshot sounded somewhere in the house with a loud BANG. Both girls jumped dramatically before flying out of their seats and out of the theatre. 

“Where did that come from?” Toni yelled, her brow furrowed as ever as her eyes darted pedantically around the dark hallway. 

“I don’t know, shine your flashlight!”

Toni pulled out her phone and went to open it. She sighed deeply as she began smacking the device. 

“It’s dead.”

“Fuck I can’t see a thing.”

“Let’s go downstairs there are lights on down there.”

They both started to make a beeline for the way they came, Shelby following closely behind Toni as they had almost reached the top of the stairs. A sudden loud series of pounding footsteps sounded from behind them in the dark, getting closer and closer. Shelby let out a yell as she jumped towards the wall. In the dark, she heard the oncomer collide with Toni, who let out a grunt at the top of the stairway. The impact sent her flying, all Shelby could hear was the violent banging and clanging of a body falling down the stairs. The heavy footsteps travelled down the stairs immediately after and grew out of earshot. 

“Toni!” She yelled out, losing all the air from her diaphragm. She ran down the stairs and into the light where Toni lay with her eyes shut. 

“Fuck! Toni!” She yelled again, flying to her side where she pulled her into her arms. Her head lulled in the crook of Shelby’s elbow. “Toni. Fuck. No.” She was lightly slapping the girls’ face. “Come on I just got you back.” Tears started to well in her eyes as she began irrationally slapping Toni’s cheek. She was shaking her around like a rag doll. “Toni!” She called out her name with enough volume to register on a richter scale. She dropped her head down to meet Toni’s shut eyes. “Tones?” She was whispering now. She began to pray, quietly whispering to the ceiling. She wrapped her arms tighter around Toni and dipped her head down onto her chest. And then, by some glorious twist of fate, Toni stirred. She frowned as she moved her head up. Her eyes fluttered open as a hand went to the back of her head. 

“Toni!” Shelby yelled, hugging her tighter than before, her eyes darting all over the hazy girls’ face. 

“Holy fuck I just got knocked out,” she said, sitting up more. She was now sitting with her knees up in between Shelby’s legs. “Did someone push me?”

“Someone came running from down the corridor and knocked you over at the top of the stairs. They mustn’t have seen you,” Shelby explained, her heart still beating like a hammer. 

“Motherfucker. That shit hurt!” Toni said with a chuckle at the end. Shelby was still searching her face in disbelief. 

“I thought you were dead,” she said quietly, her eyes never leaving Toni’s face, as she wiped a fallen tear. 

“I’m a bad bitch, you can’t kill me,” Toni replied with a laugh. Shelby wasn’t laughing. Instead, another tear fell down her left cheek and she sniffled. 

“Hey,” Toni cooed soothingly, wiping the tear from her face. “I’m all good, there’s nothing to worry about. Although I might be a little concussed.” She lightly chuckled once again. Shelby wrapped her hand around Toni’s as it stroked her cheek. Shelby pulled it away from her cheek and slowly brought it to her mouth where she placed a modest kiss to Toni’s palm. Toni’s face was extremely soft as she watched. She brought her other hand up and cupped Shelby’s other cheek. Shelby laced her fingers through it as she placed another kiss on Toni’s right hand. She then laced her fingers through Toni’s other hand, both hands tangled up gently. She let go as her hands now cupped Toni’s cheeks. She leaned forward slowly but stopped right before their lips touched. She could feel Toni’s small breaths on her mouth. Then she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Toni’s. The contact caused what felt like a series of fireworks to explode around her head. Her lips were just as soft as she’d remembered, just as delicate. Their lips moved in sync as Shelby revelled in the familiar contact. She opened her mouth to deepen the kiss and felt Toni’s tongue slide against hers. Toni had moved slightly closer to her now and had placed her hands firmly on Shelby’s knees. It wasn’t close enough for Shelby though as she found herself scooting forward to the point where she was sitting directly in Toni’s lap, her legs on either side of her torso. Their lips continued to move together, Toni’s hands now travelling to the back of Shelby’s neck. Shelby’s own hands were gripped firmly onto Toni’s jaw. She slid her tongue across Toni’s eliciting a small groan from her. This motivated Shelby to repeat the action. Toni pulled away just enough to softly whisper her name. Shelby caught her name in her mouth as she closed back in. The kiss continued like this for what felt like minutes. When Shelby finally pulled away, she dropped her hands to the sides of Toni’s neck. Toni rested her forehead against Shelby’s as she heaved heavy breaths. She was smiling. Shelby was smiling too as she wrapped her arms around Toni’s midsection and rested her head against her shoulder. It was the greatest collision of her life. They sat like that for a few moments, soundlessly wrapped in each other’s arms before Shelby pulled back to speak. 

“I don’t think I can live without you.” Her voice was earnest and true as she stared into Toni’s brown eyes. They were silky like the surface of Mars. She wanted to get lost in them each and every day. 

“I don’t want to live without you,” Toni replied softly. A blissful smile graced Shelby’s face. 

“Then let’s not,” she said with a sideways smile. 

“I’d like that.”

Shelby stood as she helped Toni up. “How’s your head? Should we call someone?”

“It’s feeling infinitely better for some reason… I wonder why.” Toni looked up and to the right in faux contemplation. 

Shelby laughed and wrapped her arms around Toni’s waist. “Come here,” she giggled before pressing their lips together again. She was about to deepen the kiss when she was struck by a sudden realisation. She pulled away quickly, her eyes wide. 

“Fuck,” she said. “There was a gunshot.”

“Oh fuck, yeah. Let’s see if the others are okay.”

And with that the pair stepped out of the ballroom with their hands wrapped fiercely together as they ventured to search the house. It seemed Gretchen had brought them together once again.

_Kiss me, break my mind, close the door_

_Black steel, break my mind, close the door_

_Black steel, the sight of you falling out_

_The sight of you_

_May i, may i walk with you?_

_May I walk with you? Uh-oh_

_In the time it takes to slide it back_

_Watch her, i can't stand the way, i don't like it_

_Contact_

_She’s the shaker, baby_

_She’s the shaker, baby_

_I can't stand the way, i don't like it_

_Contact_

_I don't like twelve o'clock either_

_Contact_

_Shake it, don't go vacant on me_

_Don't go vacant on me_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all aboard the shoni express! once again, thanks for reading! :)


	5. Mrs Brightside

CHAPTER FIVE: Mrs Brightside

_Her pistol go (bang bang, boom boom, pop pop)_

_Her pistol go (bang bang, boom boom, pop pop)_

_I said her pistol go (bang bang, boom boom, pop pop)_

_'Cause she a fashion killa_

MARTHA

An everlasting dread still snaked its way around Martha’s stomach minutes after the gunshot had sounded from within the house. She had clung impossibly tighter to Leah, who this time didn’t shake her off, but rather squeezed right back. They had been searching the pool area and that is where they still remained, seemingly glued to the spot. Martha thought briefly that it was a nice spot to be glued to at least. The pool looked like it had been taken straight from a Hollywood set. They _were_ in LA, but this was taking extravagance to the next level. There lay a vibrant stretch of grass between the house and the pool with a grossly expensive fountain in the middle. To walk further would bring one to a surface of smooth sandstone where a series of sleek long beach chairs were perfectly spaced out from one another. Lofty palm trees were sprinkled around the area, giving it the _I’ve just been teleported to the Bahamas_ look. Beyond the palm trees and beach chairs lay the nicest pool Martha had ever set eyes on. It stretched out for several metres in its rectangular length and was lit by a dark blue neon light. She breathed in a vegetal green scent with a tinge of chlorine. More fountains spat water into it from the sides, camouflaged as boulders. The boulders on the left continued up in a heap, making for a landing to jump into the water. Martha couldn’t imagine Gretchen swimming. She thought back to old summers with Toni when they would drive down to the Hopewell Lake community pool. They would eat Takis, drink La Croix and swim all day. 

Her mind wandered to Toni now. When she got paired up with Shelby, Martha had been wearing a tiny smile. The smile had held itself in place with the glue of anticipation and excitement. It would’ve said _go get your closure Toni._ She couldn’t count on her hands how many times she’d urged Toni to pick up the phone and ring her on many teary eyed nights. _Just talk to her, Toni. She’s not gonna bite you._ To that Toni would shake her head. _She’s not gonna answer._ So she never did ring or text the girl, much to Martha’s anguish. It’s hard to watch someone’s broken heart reach the rest of their body. Martha’s guardian angel. A sad angel with broken wings and a broken halo. Though she didn’t miss the way Toni had smiled when Shelby said her name. Martha had faith in the universe. Shelby was the only person who could truly recoil the middle finger Toni held up at the world. Their torn tapestry would be mended with time. 

The tightness on Martha’s arm brought her thoughts back to the present. Leah and herself were rigidly staring at the doorway to the patio, neither girl willing to move. 

“We should- we should go in,” Leah spoke with a gulp. The saliva in Martha’s mouth vanished at the idea. 

“I think we should stay here,” came Martha’s pitiful reply. Leah was silent as her arm remained linked with Martha’s. 

“What if someone’s hurt?” Leah said. “We can’t just stand here and do nothing.”

Then Martha thought of Toni and her head started spinning with the weight of daunting possibilities. 

“Okay yeah. Let’s go in.”

With that they stepped hesitantly through the patio and into the ballroom. It was eerily silent and the tremor that ran through Martha’s stomach had now started buzzing through her arms and legs. An uncomfortable heat pricked the back of her neck. 

“Can we sing a song or something?” She found herself asking Leah, her voice edged with timidness. Leah shot her an expectant glance. She then looked back ahead as they moved towards the steps of the ballroom. 

“Right right turn off the lights we’re gonna lose our minds tonight, what’s the delio?”

Martha’s nerves were slightly put to ease at Leah’s voice. She joined in with her. 

“I love when it’s all too much, five AM turn the radio up. Where’s the rock and roll?”

They slowly ascended the stairs as they continued to sing. 

“Party crasher, panty snatcher. Call me up if you are gangster.”

Martha suddenly tripped up a step and Leah grabbed her arm to catch her. With a reassuring nod from Leah, she chuckled before diving back into the song. 

“Don’t be fancy, just get dancy. Why so serious?”

They pitchily mumbled the chorus as they reached the top of the stairs. 

“So raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways, all my underdogs, we will never be, never be anything but loud and nitty gritty dirty little freaks.”

They were now stepping cautiously through a dark hallway. Leah pulled her phone out of her bag and shone a flashlight. 

“Raise your glass. Just come on and come on and raise your glass for me.”

They both abruptly stopped singing as the distant sound of movement could be heard down the hallway. 

“Oh my god Leah what is that?” Martha’s voice was high pitched and scratchy. 

“Why are you asking me? We’re both seeing the same thing.”

Martha silently looked ahead into the darkness. There was only so much the flashlight could reveal. They ventured deeper into the hallway, passing a room on the left that resembled a cinema. They kept walking, stepping into the small radius of white light ahead of them. When they reached the end of the corridor, another hallway lay in darkness to the right and the sound of movement grew closer. 

“For real Leah, what is that?”

Leah narrowed her eyes, squinting into the dark beyond the light. The movement grew closer, anticipation was building as they clung tighter to each other. The footsteps were nearly upon them, their grasps wrapped tighter. Suddenly Nora and Rachel appeared, like deers in headlights. Leah and Martha both let out a bloodcurdling scream and jumped as they appeared. They quickly separated from each other, nodding in embarrassment as they realised it was just their friends. 

“Jeez what’s got you guys so tightly strung?” Rachel questioned, cool, calm and collected. Leah and Martha were still catching their breaths with hands on their knees. 

“I don’t know? Maybe the fact we’re in pitch darkness and there was a _gunshot_?” Martha exasperatedly shouted. 

Rachel seemed to stiffen at that, her face now serious. Nora was mousily standing to the left of her, following the conversation carefully. 

“Where did it come from?” Rachel asked, looking around. 

“We don’t know,” Leah replied. “We were outside when we heard it.”

The four of them sort of just stared around at each other expectantly, waiting for someone to suggest anything. Leah shuffled on her feet before opening her mouth to speak then promptly closing it. 

“Has anyone looked in this room?” Martha found herself saying, pointing to a door on the left. 

“Uh, no. We were making our way towards it when you guys did your Scooby-Doo impressions,” Rachel quipped with that sarcastic edge that always seemed to find its way into her everyday dialect. Martha looked sort of pale as she stared at the door. There was surely nothing inside. They hadn’t found anything or _anyone_ yet. Why should that have to change? With that thought in motion, she stepped towards the door. 

“Shall we?” She questioned. 

“After you,” Leah answered. 

She didn’t want to drag out the process. She wrapped a set of knuckles around the knob and pushed it open. 

Her mouth too, fell open at the sight. Why must her fears always have a way of materialising? She stood frozen in the doorway, a still silhouette. 

“Martha what is it?” She barely heard Nora say. She felt hands pulling her back from the door frame and she stumbled like a heavy anchor stuttering across a shallow bank. She registered Leah, Nora and Rachel moving into the room, she registered Leah’s hands in her hair and Rachel staggering back. Nora’s eyes were fixed not on the floor but on a black and white scene playing on a loop on a screen. Taken by a night vision lense. A candlestick colliding with Gretchen’s head. The girl holding the candlestick and returning swiftly to her seat. 

A new body lay in front of them, with blood seeping from her temple. A pistol lay beside her. _She couldn’t have done this. She knew her too well, she couldn’t have done this._ She knew nothing to be true. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whodunnit guys >:D


	6. Every Bait And Switch

CHAPTER SIX: Every Bait & Switch

_\- was a work of art._

FATIN

“So Dorothy, are we just gonna continue to sit here and talk about how much you’ve missed Leah or are we gonna go investigate what the _fuck_ that gunshot was?”

It would be sensible to concur that Fatin and Dot were not the most skilled or _motivated_ sleuths. When they had split off into pairs they had sort of looked through the bottom rooms in the house. _Sort of_ meaning they had ducked their heads through a few doorways and briefly flitted their eyes over the furniture before making themselves comfortable in the game room. Should it be called a game room? There was a pool table in the middle and a mini bar off to the right. A low orange mood light hung in the middle of the room, providing a relaxed sort of ambience. To the left of the pool table was an extremely comfortable leather couch, landlocked by bookcases. That’s where the pair sat with outstretched arms and legs.

“No need to be blunt,” came Dot’s response. “I missed you too buddy.” 

“We live together.” Fatin deadpanned. 

“Are we sure it was a gunshot? Someone could’ve knocked something over? Like a picture frame?” Dot breezed over Fatin’s sarcastic response.

“I’m not gonna gamble the safety of our friends on your scepticism,” Fatin replied, standing from the couch. Dot took a solid drag from her cigarette. “You know in Australia they call these durries?” She asked, blowing a cloud of smoke into Fatin’s face which she theatrically fanned away, letting out some equally theatrical coughs.

“In America they call you an idiot.”

“Hey!” Dot replied, slapping the other girl on the shoulder. “No need to be a dick, you dick.”

“Just trying to keep it one hundred with you.”

“Keep your numbers to _yourself_.” Dot huffed, standing up from the couch and walking to the bar. “Care for a drink before we investigate?” She asked in an exaggerated southern accent. She tipped an invisible cowboy hat. Fatin stood and followed her across the room.

“Don’t mind if I do, partner,” She replied in an equally as cringe- worthy accent. Dot hopped behind the bar and began searching for glasses.

“You know I feel kind of guilty that we’ve been hanging out down here when the girls are searching the house for a murderer.”

Dot scoffed. “Yeah well, I’m sure they’ll call out if they find him… or _her_.”

“You think it was one of them?” Fatin questioned, boosting herself up onto a wooden barstool. Dot pulled a bottle of whiskey out of a cabinet below the bench. 

“How likely is it that it _wasn’t_.” Fatin felt a flinty, uninviting nervousness flutter around her body. “Nobody else could have entered the room in time to strike Gretchen. It doesn’t make sense.” Dot filled up two glasses with whiskey. The potent smell of it made Fatin excited.

“Someone could’ve pre-emptively put the poison in the glass? I mean that servant guy carried it in from the kitchen. Maybe some shady shit was going on in there. He clearly wasn’t supposed to be the one drinking the champagne.” 

“Everything feels _off_. ”

“I’ll cheers to that!” Fatin sang, raising her glass to clink against Dot’s. They both took a slow sip in unison. “We should probably go see if everyone’s okay.”

“You’re right. what if something happened to Leah?” Dot said, minutes of delayed concern suddenly entering her body.

“What is it with you and Leah? You got the hots for her or something?”

“Why? You jealous?” Dot’s eyebrow raised with the corner of her lips. Fatin felt a tinge of heat flow to her cheeks. “Um no. Fuckface.” She knocked back the remainder of her drink before slamming her glass down on the counter and standing. “We should find the others.” They began to saunter out of the room. They stepped into the ballroom, crossing halfway before they stopped and listened out for noise. 

“Upstairs?” Dot asked. 

“Hold on, I hear something. They stepped through a smallish archway in the wall shared by the ballroom and the steps underneath the foyer. It opened up into a minimally furnished library. Fatin pushed a curious pair of eyes around the room.

“What in Hogwarts hell?” 

She eyed the rows and rows of books that lined the walls. The bookcases were tall and stretched from the floor to the ceiling. She gaped at a sliding wooden ladder, used to reach the higher up books. There lay a blue patterned rug in the centre of the floor with stylishly frayed ends. To the left of her hung a picture frame, the subject being people she didn’t recognise. A few suede armchairs were positioned around the room, making for a cosy little reading spot.

“Fatin!” Shelby yelled, seemingly appearing out of thin air across the room. Fatin jumped, grabbing onto Dot, who chuckled. 

“What the fuck Goodkind? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“My bad,” She sheepishly replied, scratching the back of her neck. Toni appeared beside her, stepping out from behind an armchair.

“Oh! And Toni’s here as well!” Fatin beamed with surprise. Her eyes dropped down to their connected hands. “Glad to see you two made up,” she said, bouncing her eyebrows at Toni who flashed a grin back, shaking the blonde girls’ hand around. She was looking at a starkly different Toni than the one she had spoken to hours ago. “I’m glad to see you guys are okay,” Dot said dutifully. “Have you seen the others?”

“No, we were looking around down here for them.” Toni replied, stepping away from Shelby and lingering in front of the armchair. She busied her eyes with the books.

“Yes… I’m sure you were doing _a lot_ of looking,” Fatin quipped with that sideway smile of hers. She did a little shoulder shimmy. Toni just glared back. 

“Okay come on guys, this isn’t the time for jokes,” Dot said with a certain nervousness. “You weren’t singing that tune when you were pouring me a whiskey a few minutes ago.” Fatin tilted her head and mockingly raised an eyebrow as she looked to Dot. Her mouth parted to speak.

“Wait, you guys have been drinking? After a gun just went off?” Shelby questioned, wide-eyed.

“Are you for certain it was a gun?” Dot questioned, becoming increasingly more sweaty. Her feet shuffled restlessly on the wooden floorboards.

“Well what were _you_ guys doing? Exploring the stacks? Thought you’d stop and have a little read of _Fifty Shades of Grey_?” Fatin clapped back, accusingly. 

“This place has a way of warping your sense of direction.”

“Guys quit bickering, I’m going up stairs.” Dot turned to walk out the door. Fatin raised her eyebrows at Shoni before swiftly following her exit out the small archway. The four of them were about to ascend the steps when Shelby’s phone started ringing in the back pocket of her slacks.

“Your phone was alive this whole time?” Toni queried with all the disbelief in the world.

“Fuck, I guess so.” She pulled it out of her pocket and looked down at the caller ID. It was Martha. Toni snatched the phone from her hands and raised it to her ear. Fatin observed as she returned one of her hands back to Shelby’s and began massaging the skin there.

“Marty? Where are you guys, we’ve been looking for you, is everything okay?”

She was met with silence. The three of them looked on as Toni frowned, listening. “What?” A pause. “But are you okay?” Another pause. “Okay, we’re coming up now.” Toni paused as Martha was still speaking. “I’m with Fatin, Dot and Shelby, why?” Toni brought her eyes up to meet Fatin’s. She looked from Fatin at the other two girls before saying “we’ll be right up.” She ended the call and handed the phone back to Shelby. Her right hand never released Shelby’s left.

“What did she say?” The blonde girl asked, anxiously smoothing over the skin on Toni’s hand. She brought it closer to her.

“She wouldn’t say. She just said we needed to come and see something. She sounded stressed.”

Fatin decided to go first up the stairs, leading her three friends like a mother duck and her ducklings. When she reached the top of the stairs she asked for Shelby’s phone, who immediately handed it to her. She turned on the flashlight and began walking down the dark corridor. Her heart was beating quickly and she decided to deposit her hand into Dot’s. Though smaller than hers’, Dot’s hand was extremely comfortable to hold. It felt like safety. Always had and always will. They kept walking until they saw a lit up corridor. Small, black lamplights attached to the wall shone a warm, yellow light down onto the rug, exposing its red colour.

“Oh good, they figured out how to turn the lights on,” Shelby cooed from behind Dot. Fatin switched off the flashlight and handed the phone back to Shelby with a nod as she continued to lead the group towards the light. The four girls at the end of the corridor were arranged in varying positions. Martha was sitting against the wall with her knees drawn to her chest. Nora was sitting cross-legged opposite her where the hallway turned. Fatin could make out Leah leaning against the wall with a foot up. She stroked a hand over her forehead as she stared down at Martha. Rachel was pacing with lunacy outside of an open doorway. Her hands were on her hips. Fatin drew her eyebrows together at the scene as a hot unease washed over her. They neared closer towards the girls and when they were a few feet away, the girls brought their eyes up. Their expressions were unreadable as they looked toward the group. Rachel turned around to face them. Her features were stoney as she simply motioned to the doorway with her left hand. Fatin looked in. 

She saw the body of a woman on the ground. And she saw a screen replaying a clip in an odd filter. The saliva vanished from her mouth and she dropped Dot’s hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wrote this chapter super fast because i was feeling motivated. only 2 more chapters to go! place your final bets people!


	7. United We Stand

CHAPTER SEVEN: United We Stand 

_Sometimes you just don’t know the answer_

_Till someone’s on their knees and asks you._

DOT

She felt the absence of Fatin’s slender fingers before anything. She can’t remember a time she’d ever seen her fingernails bare. Red was her favourite colour to the rest of the world, but Dot knew she secretly preferred pink. In turn, a mix of these two colours settled in a blush on Fatin’s cheeks now. The taller girl stepped back from the open doorway until she was against the wall. Her eyes were jumping from the floor to a screen. Dot looked back over at the screen and was hit with the same coldness she had suffered when she first glanced at it. Depicted on it was a scene. It wasn’t playing in typical technicolor motion, no this scene was playing in night vision. 

It was a jarring loop. 

The camera must have been hiding in the corner of the dining room ceiling, planted firmly where no one would see it. Of course Gretchen would have surveillance in her own home. Dot had no idea why it was playing on this small screen in this small room. 

The same motion repeated in the loop. The lights flickered off. A girl raised from her seat, grabbing one of the candlesticks from the centre of the table. She tip-toe jogged beside Gretchen. Gretchen glanced up at her in the dark. Then the candlestick was slammed into the side of her head, striking her right in the temple. The candlestick seems to have been thrown quickly under the table before the girl swiftly returned to her seat, composed and still. And then this repeated. 

The girl was Fatin. 

And Dot had never seen her move so quickly. 

She brought her eyes over to the girl and watched as the guilt took over her entire body. Her arms were folded as she now stared at the body on the floor. 

What a fucking mess. 

There was silence until there wasn’t. 

“Care to explain?” Rachel bit out, daring and unafraid of the taller girl. Fatin came out of her head for a moment as she brought her eyes not up to Rachel, but to Dot. 

“Okay so you caught me. Is there really anything for me to explain?” Fatin replied, her voice devoid of its usual fun. Rachel stood staring, frozen under the anchors of a million indecisions. Martha and Leah looked sort of resigned in the corner, they weren’t planning on jumping into this conversation. As for Toni and Shelby, they held hands to the right of the doorway, eyes fixed on the screen in disarray. Dot maintained eye contact with Fatin. She wasn’t so sure why the girl wouldn’t look at anyone else. 

“Did you- did you kill this woman too?” Toni stammered from beside her, bringing her eyes to Fatin. 

“Her name was Audrey,” Nora spoke softly from the floor. The group were all looking at her now. “She was in on the experiment too.”

Then just like that everyone’s accusatory gazes were focused back on Fatin. “No of course not, I haven’t even been upstairs.”

“How can we believe anything you have to say?” Rachel snapped as she looked down at Audrey. “You- you murdered Gretc—“

“I did what I had to do.”

“How is _murder_ a _must_?” Shelby said from beside Toni. Her voice wasn’t biting like the others, it was soft and disbelieving. Dot brought her eyes down to their connected hands. Her knuckles were turning white from how hard she was clasping the other girls’. Fatin pushed off the wall she was leaning against and now stood against the opposite doorway. 

“What? You want my whole murdery backstory? Fine.” She looked around at all the girls now. “I didn’t come here with the intention to kill Gretchen. I came here with the intention to _blackmail_.” The group silently listened, their understanding slowly climbing as she spoke. “After the island I hired a PI to look into my parents. I don’t know why. I guess I just wanted to find some incriminating information to fuck with those fucktards.” She furrowed her brow and looked down at her hands. It was like a still from Macbeth. 

Ambition sure was Fatin’s folly. 

“I found out some… pretty unsettling shit.” Her eyes were on Dot’s now. Dot listened to her best friend intently. 

“Turns out my parents were investors in the Dawn of Eve project. Which I then found out was the social experiment we were a part of. I mean _God_ that’s fucked. I was _furious_. Aren’t you guys?” Fatin was met with more silence. But Dot nodded. 

“When I found out that Gretchen bitch was in charge I planned to blackmail her. You know? Threaten her with the cops or some shit. Exploit her for exploiting us. That was the plan. But when she turned the tables on _us_? I don’t know I just felt like I needed to take that bitch out. The same way she took Jeanette.” It seemed Fatin was done talking now as she dropped her hands to her sides and looked around for validation. 

“I’m no _killer_. I was just trying to protect us. But I didn’t poison that guy and I didn’t kill this woman. I swear. Something else is going on.”

A fearful ambiance fell over the group now, Dot could feel it. And they weren’t fearful of Fatin, but fearful of whoever else was picking off these people. 

“We all searched the house. There’s no one else here.” Nora said from her spot on the floor. 

“Then that means it was one of us.” Leah finally spoke, walking over to Dot. “If it was poison that means whoever did it has some sort of vial.” She was now speaking directly to Shoni. Shelby raised her hands in some sort of surrender before uttering “hey, I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Leah turned around towards Rachel and Nora, who was now standing up, her posture a vigilant stance. “Alright everyone empty your bags. We’re doing this,” Leah announced with an intense authoritative tone before dropping to her knees and swinging her bag around. She unzipped it and shook it as she tipped it upside down. Out fell a pair of headphones, a packet of gum, her phone, her keys and a tampon. Dot’s eyes fell over the objects. It had been so long since she’d spoken to Leah. Seeing her in this way made her feel scared, but also impressed at how forward thinking she was being. 

“Nothing in my bag. Come on, everyone empty your bags.”

Rachel didn’t have a bag, instead she just pulled her phone and wallet out of her back pockets along with her keys from her front pockets. She threw them on the floor beside Leah’s items before shrugging and saying “I travel lightly.” 

“I left my bag in the car,” Nora professed, ruling her out as a suspect. Leah nodded and looked over to Martha who _god bless her heart_ carried a frog tote bag. She walked towards Leah and tipped it upside down completely. Nothing incriminating fell out. 

“Okay Dot your turn,” Leah beckoned, looking up at her with those lavender-esque grey eyes. Dot froze for a moment causing Leah’s perfectly manicured eyebrows to furrow. She was studying her now with all the suspicion in the world. This is _not_ the kind of attention Dot wanted from the girl tonight. “Do I need to empty it for you?” Leah asked with a biting tone. 

Dot frowned at her words. “No, I got it.” She slung her smallish leather handbag from her shoulder and sat it in her lap. She undid the main zip and tipped it upside down. Her phone fell out along with a rolled up packet of Mint Milanos, a lighter and a box of cigarettes. _The quintessential immaterial girl._

“Happy?” She asked, staring mockingly into Leah’s eyes. Leah’s eyes only narrowed as she looked down at Dot’s bag. 

“What’s in the zip?” She questioned now with extreme levels of suspicion. 

“What? Nothing. Why?”

“Prove it.” Leah was like a dog with a bone now. She was chewing her out for reasons unknown. 

“Leah, you’re being crazy—“

Before Dot could even finish her sentence Leah had snatched the bag up out of her lap. Before Dot could resist, she undid the zip and pulled out a small cylindrical object. 

_Well crap._

“What the fuck is this then Dot?” 

The flesh at the back of Dot’s neck ran cold, yet her blood was unnervingly warm as she felt it swell around her body. _Why didn’t I just ditch the stupid thing?_

“Would you believe I just like to carry around empty vials?” 

“Oh my god did Dot just get unmasked right before my eyes?” Fatin laughed, bringing a hand to her mouth. But this was no laughing matter and Fatin quickly realised this as her smile disappeared. Leah seemed to be almost manic as she looked between Leah and Dot, two guilty idiots, two _murdering_ idiots. 

“I can explain,” was all that fell from Dot’s culpable lips. The amount of disbelief in the hallway at the moment was substantially dense. Dot didn’t bring her eyes off Fatin as she searched through the English language for words to speak.

“I never meant to kill Thom, the poison was meant for Gretchen,” she began, still grappling with the fact _she_ was now telling her murdery backstory. “I rigged the lights so I could slip it in but Fatin sort of stole the show.” Fatin was staring down at her with a pained sort of relief. _They were in this together_. 

“If you brought poison that means you came with the intention of killing her. Why?” Rachel asked, seemingly exhausted from being overwhelmed. It was as if they were all stuck in an inescapable riptide; a sea of incrimination.

“When Gretchen told me about the Dawn of Eve, my dad had just died. She asked me if I’d be interested in vacay-ing to Hawaii. It was only when we got off the island I realised the whole thing was a set up. So I did a little research when we got back and I found out that she was some famous researcher. That’s when I put two and two together.” Dot looked to Leah who was silently listening to her story. She seemed to be looking in on herself as her eyes were vacant.

“So why’d you try to kill her?” Martha asked from her spot on the floor. She had already begun returning her belongings back to her bag with uncertain hands. 

Dot looked down at her bag and sort of shrugged. She frowned as she felt her eyes begin to feel stingy with tears. She blinked them away as she spoke through her next sentence. “One of the last conversations I had with my dad was about that stupid ‘retreat’. He was so excited for me to go. He said it was the gateway to me _spreading my wings_ and living my life for _me_. I don’t know I guess it just crushed me to know it was all fake. And I didn’t have my dad to go back home to. It was fake for all of us. Who was to stop Gretchen from doing that to another group of kids. _I_ was gonna stop her. I didn’t mean for Thom to die.”

Dot’s words drifted through the room and clung to the walls like a mirror; a reflective surface for the girls to look at. And they did reflect as they remained silent, finally becoming consumed by understanding. Fatin stood above Dot with sincere eyes and pursed lips. She suddenly knelt down and wrapped her arms around the girl. She squeezed Dot so tightly, it made her want to cry. Dot was overwhelmed by the floral scent of her perfume, it felt like returning home after a long flight. She reciprocated the hug and felt her own arms wrap around Fatin’s back and pull her in closer. Then instantaneously, she felt another pair of arms close around them. She looked up to see Leah with an emotional face, embracing the two girls fiercely. It only piled on from there. One by one, the Unsinkables were soon engaged in one big group hug, holding each other with all the love in the world it seemed. Then Fatin whispered something in Dot’s ear only she could hear. “I love you Dot.” Fatin pulled away as she cleared her throat to speak.

“I’ll take the rap for both murders,” she said, standing up. Not a single set of eyebrows were unfurrowed at this.

“What? Fatin no. This is my burden to carry, I’m not gonna let you do that.”

“Well who’s gonna believe you? I have seven eyewitnesses and video footage of me killing Gretchen, Thom’s death isn’t a far stretch.”

“Guys,” Martha spoke up, causing all eyes to fall on her. “I’m the one who made Thom drink. If anything, I’m the most responsible.”

“Martha, you couldn’t have known. This was my fault,” Dot eased, now standing.

“If I’m being honest.” Toni piped up. “I’m fucking glad you took those assholes out. Who knows? Maybe I would have if you hadn’t done so.” Shelby was concernedly looking at Toni. It looked as if she was about to say something contrarian. But then she just stared at the floor in front of them and hummed “they weren’t good people at all.”

“Okay but who killed Audrey?” Nora questioned, drawing the groups’ attention back to the lifeless body that lay just within the doorway. 

“Someone knocked Toni down the stairs right after the gun went off. I’ll bet money that it was whoever killed Audrey,” Shelby voiced with conviction as she placed a gentle kiss to Toni’s forehead. 

“Where are these security cameras when we need them?” Fatin threw her hands up in the air. “I need a drink.” With that she began to walk down the hallway toward the ballroom staircase. She paused and looked back. “Are you guys coming?”

“Fuck it,” Rachel remarked as she followed Fatin. The rest of the group seemed to collectively shrug and follow the two girls down the hallway. Will had sort of lost all meaning in this house. They were now doing things for the sake of doing them. Once again, like a mother duck, Fatin led seven ducklings down the stairs into the ballroom. They spread out and moved behind Fatin as she led them to the game room with the bar her and Dot relaxed in before. Dot moved to walk next to Fatin at the front, pulling Leah along by the hand. She slung an arm around Fatin’s shoulder as they stepped closer to the foyer. 

Their path was obscured abruptly as the door flew open and slammed against the wall. A series of gasps flew around the group as they looked out into the night, searching for any signs of movement. That’s when a vaguely familiar face stepped into the doorway. Dot couldn’t quite place it until Martha said his name and everything clicked.

“Marcus?”

_I think the story needs more pages._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope u guys enjoyed the reveal!  
> it's not over yet >:)  
> one more chapter to go! :D  
> thank u so much for reading as always 
> 
> find me on tumblr @superlxthor


	8. We Need Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey all! thank u so much for reading, this was so much fun to write and i hope u had just as much fun reading it. all your comments have made me super happy, i’ve read every single one.  
> you've probably noticed that i’ve been referencing a lot of lyrics throughout this fic so i made a list of all the songs incase you were interested. they’re all super awesome, i would defs recommend giving them a listen!  
> in order of appearance:  
> Man Down by Rihanna  
> Fire and the Flood by Vance Joy  
> Lucky by Zeph  
> Pretty Waste by BONES UK  
> no body, no crime by Taylor Swift  
> fake smile by Ariana Grande  
> cowboy like me by Taylor Swift  
> The Leanover by Life Without Buildings  
> Fashion Killa’ by A$AP Rocky  
> willow by Taylor Swift  
> champagne problems by Taylor Swift  
> Me and You Together Song by The 1975  
> Gold Soundz by Pavement
> 
> thanks so much again for reading my friends!

CHAPTER EIGHT: We Need Secrets

_I keep my address to yourself_

_'Cause we need secrets_

_We need secrets-crets-crets-crets-crets-crets_

_Back right now_

LEAH  
A profound confusion settled around Leah like a fog as she stared at the man in the doorway. Martha had spoken what she believed to be his name. Leah had seen this man only once before. It was on the plane when he had his hair slicked back under a crisp white hat. His hands disappeared into white gloves which settled around a tray that he pushed down the aisle with a smile. He was scar-less then. That image lived in stark contrast to how Leah saw him now. Dishevelled and shaken. He don a khaki coloured knit shirt and black jeans. There was blood on his hands. Leah didn’t want to jump to conclusions too quickly yet she was fairly certain of why the blood was there. But tonight was full of surprises. So she adjusted her jaw and folded her arms as she waited for him to speak. The group held themselves with a similar sort of knowingness as they simply watched Alex stagger his way inside, his face pinched into a grimace as if he were in pain. 

“Marcus?” Martha repeated again from behind Leah. She stepped forward to help him when Leah reached out an arm and caught her on the way. She shook her head as Martha looked at her with all the concern in the world. They looked back towards Alex who had tripped his way closer to the group. He took a handful of laboured breaths before opening his mouth to speak. 

“My name isn’t Marcus. It’s Alex,” he said it like he was dropping a bomb, like his words were flammable and the whole room was laced with gasoline. An underwhelming response it was for the girls, however. They remained still as they watched him, waiting for him to explain his theatrical entrance. He appeared impatient and restless as he pedantically glanced around the room, avoiding the girls’ expectant glances. Leah was itching to cut to the chase. So she spoke. “I don’t suppose you have anything to do with the dead body upstairs?”

His pale face flushed red as he looked at Leah. His eyes were wavering as his lips parted; seemingly drowning in dread. _There goes his guilty conscience._ He pushed his hands through his hair before folding them tightly across his chest. “How do you- did you see?”

“If you wanna murder someone discretely maybe don’t shoot them?” Fatin spoke, now folding her arms herself. 

“Yeah you should try taking a page out of Dot and Fatin’s books,” Toni said with a smirk as Dot shot her a filthy glare. She cleared her throat.

“If it wasn’t for you two I wouldn’t have to have done what I did,” he responded with remarkable hostility. 

“Here we go, another backstory,” Rachel said, breaking away from the group to sit against the wall on her left. 

“There is no backstory. There is only bad decision making. And I wasn’t the only one making bad decisions” Alex said, flicking his eyes over to Dot and Fatin. “Audrey and I were upstairs the whole time. Gretchen had us set up cameras to get video evidence of you girls agreeing to letting her publish her monograph. I don’t know why she didn’t just ask for signatures. But nevertheless, we saw Fatin kill Gretchen and we saw Dot slip the poison in her drink.” He took a deep breath after revealing this and he looked around at all the girls, surveying their reactions. No one looked phased really. At this point, they were desensitised to any and all shocking information.

“Wait a minute,” Leah piped up, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes in thought. “So that means you could have stopped Thom from drinking it?” Her eyes were extra accusatory as they fell on Alex. 

“I was a little preoccupied arguing with Audrey. She insisted on calling the police and I was trying to talk her out of it. And then when Thom drank the poison she sort of lost it, she was saying all kinds of crazy things.”

“Why would you care if she called the police on us?” Dot asked with genuine uncertainty. Alex sighed as he looked at her honestly. 

“I played a major part in putting you guys on that island.” His head was dipped down now. “I don’t want to see you guys punished for lashing out. Gretchen deserved what she got. I’m just sorry it had to be like this.”

Martha looked especially miserable at his words. Leah based this observation purely on the way her hands fiddled together and the way her top lip recoiled into her bottom one. 

“I freaked out and I shot her. But it was too late, she had already called the cops.”

“Wait so you were the one who knocked Toni down the stairs?” Shelby questioned with a subtle anger as she moved forward a little. Her chest rose and fell more quickly, a physical manifestation of the rage that was bubbling. This rage was quelled almost immediately as Toni reached hands out and wrapped them around Shelby’s arm, pulling the taller girl into herself. 

“I’m really sorry about that, I didn’t even see her. I was in such a hurry to just get out of that room.”

“Wait. What do you mean she had already called the cops?” Leah asked, suddenly flushing with an icy dread. She looked to Dot and Fatin whose hands were now linked together. They stared at Alex, seemingly ready to catch their deaths. 

“I couldn’t stop her. But it’s okay,” Alex replied. His voice had changed. It was no longer pained and enduring. It now floated through the room on a peaceful chord. He sounded resigned and accepting. Leah’s eyebrows drew together in confusion for the hundredth time that night. They rose even higher on her face at Alex’s next words. “You all need to leave. Now. I’ve unlocked the doors. You need to run before the cops get here.” He wasn’t coiled in on himself like previously, no, now Alex stood confidently with his arms by his side. His eyes were reassuring as they moved around the room to look at each girl. 

“What? No, we can’t just leave, this is our mess to clean up,” Fatin spoke and she was about to continue when she was cut off with the raise of Alex’s two hands. 

“Go now. And never come back. I owe you girls so much. I’m so devastatingly sorry about everything.”

Rachel didn’t miss a beat. She stood from her spot on the floor and grabbed Nora’s hand. She saluted Alex with her missing hand, turned and began to walk through the foyer. 

“Goodbye Alex,” Nora had said earnestly as her sister dragged her behind her. 

“Bye Nora,” he replied and nodded back. The rest of the girls were still standing unsure of whether to leave. Leah’s body was telling her to walk, run, stride out but there was something keeping her planted firmly to the ground. The guilt. She stared at Alex, frowning defiantly.

“We can’t just let you take the rap for three murders, most of which you had nothing to do with.” Dot was getting emotional. Leah looked down and noticed her grasp was tightening around Fatin’s hand. “It’s not right.”

“It’s what I deserve. Prison is what my whole team deserves. But if I’m the only man left standing to serve a sentence. Then so be it,” he was so convinced this was the right way. “I won’t ask again. Go. Now.” He strode over to the grand wooden door at the entrance. Nora and Rachel were just outside, peering in, waiting for the rest of the Unsinkables to join them. When they began to hesitantly follow him down the hallway, Martha did something entirely unpredictable. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Alex. It was such a sweet image. Leah felt herself getting emotional. She moved her hand to Martha’s back and started rubbing gentle circles into it. Dot and Fatin stepped forward too and joined in the hug. Alex wrapped his arms around the three of them and closed his eyes. There was a benign smile on his face now. He stepped back and opened the door up further.

“Go and live your lives. I hope one day you will be free from that island.”

With that, Shelby, Martha and Toni stepped out of the door. Dot and Fatin lingered for a moment before Fatin placed a hand on his shoulder. “This doesn’t feel right. But thank you,” she uttered, her voice wavering along the vowels. Dot swiped her hand across her nose and nodded. With that they were gracefully out the door. It was just Leah and Alex now. She gave him a small smile as she met his eyes. He looked like he knew her. She knew that he did. She clasped her hands together and dropped her gaze down before bringing it back up to him. “You know, it wasn’t all that bad,” she almost whispered. Alex just smiled. And then he watched her exit the mansion. Once outside, Leah stood with the Unsinkables. They all looked back at Alex who shooed them away with the motion of his hand. They walked down the cobblestone driveway, past the neatly trimmed hedges and the small oak tree and the fountain. Martha and Toni stopped at their car.

“Everyone meet back at Fatin and Dot’s?” Toni said, squeezing Shelby’s hand.

“Sounds like a plan,” Nora replied, before turning and walking further down the driveway.

“We’ll see you there,” Shelby said before gently grabbing the collar of Toni’s shirt and pulling her in for a kiss. Leah looked away to give them some privacy, but there was a smile on her face. As she walked behind Fatin to her car, she raised her hands to grab her shoulders. She gave them a good squeeze as Fatin brought her own hands up to squeeze back. 

When they entered the car she put a hand on Fatin’s knee. Fatin stared affectionately at her before redirecting her gaze out the windshield. She jammed the keys in the ignition and fired up the engine. They peeled out of the driveway, following Dot’s car. She turned the radio on. It was that popular P!nk song. She hummed along. Even when they passed a cop car with flashing lights and blaring sirens. 

There were no heroes on this Friday night. Or maybe there were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's over! once again thank you so much for reading!  
> i had so much fun writing this i hope you enjoyed reading  
> if you ever wanna reach me for anything at all, my tumblr is @superlxthor  
> and i also start uni today...pray for my soul  
> THANKS GUYS, LOVE YOU ALL!!

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading homies :)


End file.
